Lori Openden

In her two-hour-and-fifteen-minute interview, Lori Openden discusses how she got her start in the industry working for a television agent at William Morris. She shares how she got hired as a secretary on Barney Miller and started her career in casting with the show's casting director, Beth Uffner. She describes casting the Barney Miller spin-off Fish, becoming a casting director at MTM, and recalls her work casting The Betty White Show, Rhoda, The White Shadow, and Hill Street Blues. She tells of becoming an independent casting director and casting TV movies and Cheers (starting in season 3) and becoming a casting executive at NBC, where she was involved in casting Seinfeld, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Mad About You, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace, L.A. Law, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, ER, Freaks and Geeks, and The West Wing. Openden details becoming a casting consultant and then executive at UPN, where she oversaw casting on several shows, including Everybody Hates Chris and Veronica Mars. She then recounts becoming head of casting at the CW, where she oversaw the casting on Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, Arrow, The Flash, Batwoman, Black Lightning, Riverdale, Jane the Virgin, Dynasty, and Charmed, among others. She describes the CW's programming strategy, how she learned the craft of casting, offers advice to aspiring actors and casting directors, and reflects on her experiences as head of casting at three different networks (NBC, UPN, and the CW). Adrienne Faillace conducted the interview on December 3, 2019 in North Hollywood, CA.